اصحاب الفيل - Elephant Incident

This is the amazing event mentioned by Allah Ta'ala in Surah Feel:

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ

أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِي تَضْلِيلٍ

وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ

تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ

فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍ

 

Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the People of the Elephant? 

Had He not turned their plan into nullity? 

And He sent upon them flying birds in flocks

throwing upon them stones of baked clay

 and thus He turned them into an eaten-up chaff.

 

How the event unfolded:

Yemen was under the rule of Hiyar. Their last king Dhu Nuwas cruelly burnt alive around 20,000 Christians [the event is mentioned in Surah Burooj].

Two Christian men managed to escaped. They fled to Syria and took refuge with Caesar, emperor of Syria.

To avenge this cruel act, Caesar wrote to Najashi [Negus; King of Abyssinia] as he was closer to Yemen. Najashi sent two governors with him: Ariat and Abraha bin as-Saba'h, along with a huge army of around 100,000.

The army invaded Yemen and conquered the country. Dhu Nuwas tried to escape, but was drowned in the sea or committed suicide.

Abraha and Ariat fought each other until Ariat was killed. Abraha was appointed the commander of the Abyssinian army in Yemen, and the governor.

In Yemen, he built a luxurious cathedral called al-Qullays. The purpose was to honour Negus and divert Arabs from Ka’aba. It was huge and tall so that a person standing at the bottom was not able to see the top. He decorated the structure with gold, silver and other precious gems.

The Arabs, whether Qahtani or Adnani, were enraged and infuriated. One night, A Kinani Arab entered the church and defiled it. According to other narratives, a nomadic tribe halted near the church and started a fire for their own needs. The wind on that day was blowing violently and the cathedral caught on fire and sustained much loss.

When Abrahah found out, he swore to march to the House of Allah in Makkah and destroy it stone by stone. He asked for Najashi's permission. He sent for him a special elephant whose name was Mahmud. It was unusually huge in size and powerful in strength the like of which had never been seen before. The king of Abyssinia sent in eight more elephants as reinforcements for the army. 

The Yemeni Arabs raised an army under the command of Dhu Nafr.  Abraha defeated them. This was due to Allah's will that no humans should protect His House and His intent to expose the enemy to embarrassment and venerate the Sacred Sanctuary to the highest degree. Dhu Nafr was taken prisoner.

The army continued on its way until it came to the settlement of the Banu Khath'am tribe. Their leader, Nufail Ibn Habib, led his tribe but they were defeated and Nufail was taken prisoner. Abrahah and took him as his guide to Hijaz.

At  Taif, the people of Thaqif wanted to pacify him and were  afraid that he would demolish their temple of idol Al-Lat. They did not resist him and sent a guide by the name of Abu Righal.

When they arrived in Al-Maghmas, near Makkah, they settled there. This was the pasture where the camels of the Quraish grazed. They captured two hundred camels of 'Abdul-Muttalib.

Abrahah then sent emissary Hanatah Al-Himyari to enter Makkah and bring to him the leader of the Quraish. He did not come to fight with the Makkans unless they stood in his way. Abdul-Muttalib replied: "By Allah! We too have no desire to fight him, nor do we have the might to do so. This is the Sacred Sanctuary of Allah built by His friend Prophet Ibrahim. If He wills to prevent Abrahah from pulling it down, He will protect it. And if He allows him to approach it, by Allah, we have no means to defend it."

Abraha was impressed with 'Abdul-Muttalib who had the most handsome, charming and attractive personality. He descended from his throne and sat with the latter on a carpet on the ground. He then said to his interpreter to ask him: "What do you need?" 'Abdul-Muttalib replied to the interpreter: "I want the king to give back my two hundred camels which his soldiers have taken from me." Then Abraha said: "When I first set my eyes on you, I admired you greatly and had great respect for you. But all that is now lost. You speak only of your two hundred camels while you fully well know that I have come to tear down your Ka'bah which is the embodiment of your religion and the religion of your forefathers. You did not even say a single word to persuade me to spare it." Abdul-Muttalib calmly responded: "I am the owner of my camels and am concerned about them. I am not the owner of Allah' House. The Master of the House knows how best to protect His House." Abrahah rudely rebuffed: "Your God cannot protect it from me." Abdul-Muttalib: "Then do as you like or [take your chance!]"

'Abdul-Muttalib took his camels and ordering his people to leave Makkah and seek shelter at the top of the mountains. He held the metal ring of the door of Ka'bah and  implored: "We have no strength to face the army of Abrahah. So, Oh my Lord! Defend Your Ka'bah."

Abraha mobilized his army, and they turned the elephant towards the Ka'bah. Nufail whispered in its ears:

"Return safely where you came from, because you are, verily, in the Sacred City of Allah. They are taking you to destroy Allah's house." Thus, it knelt and didn’t go forward. They cruelly tried striking it with large iron spears and putting iron arrowheads in its trunk,  beat it on its head with axes and used hooked staffs to pull it out , but it refused.

So they turned it towards Yemen, and it rose and walked quickly. Then they turned it towards Syria, it walked fast. Then they turned it towards the east and it walked briskly. Then they turned it towards Makkah, it knelt and sat down again.

Some flocks of birds (unusual which were never seen before) smaller than pigeons, and their claws were red in colour, were seen coming from the sea. Each bird carried three pebbles of the size of gram seeds or lentils, one in each claw and two in its beak. They flew over the army and pelted them with the pebbles.

It tore directly through the body and settled deep in the ground. Elephants fled in panic, except one which was destroyed by the pebble.

Some were destroyed then. Others died excruciatingly on their way back. Two of Mahmud's drivers remained in Makkah, but both of them became blind and paralyzed. Sayyidah Asma' says that she would see the two blind and paralyzed men begging in Makkah.  Abu Yaksum got all the way back to Najashi but the bird followed him and killed him no sooner had he finished recounting the incident.

Allah Ta’ala afflicted Abraha with a deadly disease. A kind of poison spread thoroughly through his entire body and caused every single part to decay - his limbs began to rot and separate from the rest of his body and he started losing one finger after another until his heart protruded out. He had said that he would destroy Ka’aba brick by brick. 

When the incident occurred: 

It occurred approximately 50-55 days before the birth of Nabi Muhammad [upon who be blessings]. 

The event is known as an Irhaas. This means a miracle that happens prior to a Prophet becoming a Prophet. It is a prelude and indication to the people that a Prophet is soon to be born.  

This event secured in the hearts of the people, the esteem of Quraish and the Ka'aba.